Hello everyone! My name is Lakota Koller, and I want to tell you all a little bit about who I am. I was born on December 4th, 1996 and I’ve grown up in Pennsylvanvia my whole life. Ive always loved being outside even when I was a little girl. When it seemed like all the other kids my age were inside watching TV, I was climbing a tree, or getting lost in the woods behind my house! In my spare time I also like practicing painting, (total amateur but trying!) and spending time with my close group of friends.
I grew up going to church, but I never got to know God on a personal level until I was around 14. I had just moved churches, and up until that point, God was just someone I learned about in Sunday school while memorizing memory verses. I gave my life to the Lord the same year I moved to my home church and its been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! It was at Celebration Church that I had the opportunity to go on my first missions trip to Quito, Ecuador. Our group’s role on the trip was to orchestrate block parties for the locals, and help bring Christmas to the children of those families. One of the days on the trip our group got to see a landfill that some of the families had to work in as their jobs. There were dozens of locals scouring the piles of trash to find objects that they could collect and sell for money. My heart broke for them, and I wanted to do everything I could to help. And so, when our group would throw these block parties, we were able to hand out groceries and supplies to those people. It really felt like we were making a difference in their hearts and planting seeds for the Lord to harvest. From that point I knew I had a heart for missions and that I would be involved in it someway. After high school ended, I was at a point in my life where I just felt stuck. I had chosen to put college off until I knew what God wanted me to do with my life.
For the past 2 years I have been working as a server at Cracker Barrel, and continuing to pray for guidance on what to do at this point in my life. I had heard of the World Race from someone from my church who went on it a couple years back, but I never thought that it was even an option for me. Not until last year when my friend announced she was going. It was then that part of me thought that that was what God wanted me to do. So after lots and lots of prayer, God not only confirmed this calling in my own heart, but also used my best friend to confirm it to me in the same day. It was then that I chose to say yes to the unknown, to the things I’ve never done before, to the things I was scared of, and to this HUGE leap of faith that is the World Race! I can’t wait to keep sharing with you what God will do in this period of time before the race, during, and after! Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and don’t forget to subscribe for updates on my trip!! God Bless!!
